ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved rose 8.4% in November 2011, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a fall of 10.0% in October.

Dwelling approvals increased for the month of November in Victoria (39.9%), Queensland (6.6%) and New South Wales (2.0%) but fell in Western Australia (-16.9%), Tasmania (-7.9%) and South Australia (-1.9%) in seasonally adjusted terms.

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 4.8% in November with rises in Victoria (13.0%), Queensland (10.8%), South Australia (2.3%) and New South Wales (0.3%), while Western Australia fell (4.9%).

The value of total building approved decreased 2.6% in November in seasonally adjusted terms, following a decrease of 2.0% in October. The value of residential building fell 2.7% while non-residential building fell 2.5%.

Widespread flooding, and other natural disasters, in the eastern states during late 2010 and early 2011 have not adversely affected participation by providers in the Building Approvals collection or the quality of estimates in this release. However, these events may have had an impact on the number of approved dwellings and the value of approved work.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au

Media Note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.